Boutique pickup lovers????????????

[Uk Ant]

I'm tempted by boutique pups but the price was putting me off, then I came across Swineshead and Irongear pups. They're both uk based and swineshead do hand wound pups for the price of seymours, the irongear are, by what I've heard, as good as stock seymours for half the price. To put that in context the price I paid to put new pups in my Ibanez would have re-shoed all three of my electrics.
Now I love SD's but if I can get something more unique but with similar sound quality for the same cash or even less then I'm going to be tempted.
If I had the cash would I go for expensive boutique pups such as bareknukles? possibly, but I think I'd need a pretty nice axe to put them into, but I'd probably go for those over custom shop SD's but that mainly due to delivery practicalities, and the guys at bareknuckle are really helpful (and sell magnets.)

[papersoul]

Ho are the IronGear and Swineshead? Is it expensive in US dollars and overseas shipping?

Lots of people say they like hand wounds for the clarity, overtones, etc. However, I swear my C-5s, JBs, Rio BBQ, were all on par with the hand wounds! So is it worth the cash.

[Sporky McGuffin]

I have some Swinesheads and they're very good indeed. Used to be cheaper, but still good value.

The Irongears bear a remarkable resemblance to some GFS models. They're not UK made, if that matters to anyone, but do get good reviews.

[papersoul]

I have some Swinesheads and they're very good indeed. Used to be cheaper, but still good value.

The Irongears bear a remarkable resemblance to some GFS models. They're not UK made, if that matters to anyone, but do get good reviews.

How much are the SH pickups in US dollars?

[Sporky McGuffin]

Exchange rate is about £1 = $1.9 at the mo, so double the numbers on the website and it's a bit less than that. So plastic topped ones are about $95 each. Probably sounds a lot to an American, but SDs and DiMarzios are typically £70-80 or so over here (about $150).

[Quicksilver689]

I've never knowingly tried boutique pickups before, but then Duncan's and DiM's have covered all the tones I've ever needed anyway. I will say that my Duncan Crazy 8 (which is a custom shop PATB HB w/Alnico8 mag) has made me the happiest I've ever been with a bridge pickup, and CS pu's do cost more than the standard production models.....so I vote that Seymour makes the Crazy 8 part of the regular PATB production line!

[papersoul]

What is the PATB HB w/Alnico8 mag?

Also I heard the Swineshead pups are great...and under $100 is good. The IronGear are really cheap and makes me wonder.

Dimarzios are so cheap so it is hard to not start there for a search.

[Sporky McGuffin]

Also I heard the Swineshead pups are great...and under $100 is good.

The ones I have are excellent, and Jon (I think it's Jon) at Swineshead is very helpful, especially for picking the right ones for your applicationl